This application relates to apparatus and methods for automatically servicing item data requests in data management systems, such as in retail management systems. The apparatus and methods employ a throttling technique to service data requests from one or more entities. In some examples, a computing device initializes assigns a counter for each entity, and initializes each counter with an initial value. The computing device also occasionally (e.g., periodically) resets each counter to the initial value. The computing device may receive a data request from one of the entities, and determines whether the counter corresponding to the entity identifies a count that is beyond a threshold. If the counter identifies a count beyond the threshold, the computing device adjusts the counter, and processes the data request. If the counter does not identify a count beyond the threshold, the computing device responds to the entity with an error.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
4. The system of claim 3, wherein determining that the first period expires based on the timer expiring comprises receiving an interrupt, and determining that the first period expires based on receiving the interrupt.
5. The system of claim 2, wherein determining when the first period expires comprises polling the timer to determine when the first period expires.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing device is configured to read and save a value of the first counter, when the timer expires.
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June 8, 2020
March 21, 2023
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